Slipper type article of footwear



March l, 1960 T. P. MORGAN SLIPPER TYPE ARTICLE OF FOOTWEAR Filed 001;. 9. 1957 2,926,434 g i g stroma TYPE ARTICLE oF noorwn'an Thomas P. Morgan, Washington, DAI. i Application October 9, 19'57, Serial No. 689,203

2 Claims. (Cl. 36-11) This invention relates generally to the class of apparel and is directed particularly to improvementsin articles of footwear in the form of slippers.

In my prior Patent No. 2,803,894, ofAugust 2], 195:7, there is disclosed a slipper type article of footwear of novel construction which is designed so that it willk automatically adjust itself to the length of the foot ofthe wearer when the slipper is applied. In the slipper of this patent there is provided an elongate sole body having attached to it along its sides .tie strings or tapes which extend from the rear end of the body and which are designed to be drawn up around the ankle to be tied in the front thereof and when the tapes are so drawn up the rear end portion of the sole body is also drawny up into position against the back of the heel so as to cause the slipper to be automatically fitted tothe foot.

The present invention is also directed to a similar type of slipper which will be automatically Yadjusted to the length of the foot when it is placed in the slipper and tie or draw strings are secured around the ankle to hold the slipper in place.

In the present invention the slipper is designed in a novel manner whereby it will not onlyl adjust itself automatically to the length of the foot but the rear end portion of the sole body will be automatically made to shape itself to the heel `as a result of which the slipper will not only stay in position in a better. manner, but will be more comfortable.

An object of the present invention, in addition to the foregoing, is to provide a slipper type of article which not only may be easily placed on the foot or in which the foot may be easily inserted, but wh-rein there are provided draw strings connected to the side edges of the sole body in such a manner that when the strings are pulled up across the sides of the ankle of the foot in the slipper to be tied in front of the ankle, the side edge portions of the sole body will be gathered along the draw strings so as to cause side portions of the sole bodyto lit snugly against the opposite sides of the heel.

Another object ofthe invention is to provide a new and novel slipper type article of footwear wherein there isan elongate sole body having a toe covering overlying one end and having the majo-r portion of the sole body from the toe covering to the other end of a length to be bent up against the back of the heel of a foot in the slipper and ared or widened toward its rear end to facilitate the gathering in of 'the side portions of the sole body adjacent to the rear end thereof against the sides of the heel when the draw strings are secured around the ankle, thus providing a cup-like heel portion for the snug reception of the heel.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a new and novel slipper type article of footwear embodying an elongate sole body of soft exible'easily bent material having a toe covering portion overlying'one end thereof, together with draw string means which when in use to secure the slipper on the foot, will shape the rear or heel end portion snugly around the heel of the wearer u United Sttes Patent rice and will adjust the length of the slipper to the foot of the wearer without placing any drag or tension on the toes in the toe covering portion.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description of the same proceeds and the invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detail description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming part of the specification, with the understanding, however, that the inventionis not confined to a strict conformity with the showing of the drawing but may be changed or modified so long as such changes or modifications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention as `expressed in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective illustrating the slipper type article of footwear on a wearers foot, showing the manner in which the heel end portion of the sole body is drawn up and cupped around the heel of the wearer and showing one manner of securing the tie strings across the front of the wearers ankle;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view sintilar to Fig. 1 but showing how the heel portion is drawn up or gathered along its side edges when the ends of the draw string are connected to a loop or an eye forming a part of the top rear edge of the toe covering portion;

Fig. 3 is a view of the slipper in top plan with portions broken away to show details of construction;

Fig. 4 is a detail section taken subtsantially on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a partial sectional view on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 6 is a transverse section taken substantially on taken substantially V.the line 6 6 of Fig. 3.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, the numeral 10 generally designates the sole body of the slipper while the numeral 12 generally designates the toe covering portion thereof.

The sole body 10 comprises one or more laminations of material which extend throughout the entire length of the article. Two layers or laminations are here shown, the upper one being designated 14 while the lower one is designated 16.

As illustrated in Fig. 3, the general outline of the sole body 10 presents in top plan a rounded forward edge i8 which is at the toe end of the slipper, and this rounded forward edge on each side merges into the longitudinal side edges or sides 20 which curve inwardly slightly at approximately the middle portion and transverse central part of the sole body and then curve or sweep outwardly so that the side edges are ared at the rear end of the sole body, as indicated at 2l. This outward flaring of the sole body across the width thereof at the rear or heel portion facilitates the hereinafter described formation of the heel portion, when it is drawn up against the back of the heel of a foot in the slipper, in such a way that side portions will lie against the sides of the heel and the sole body will conform itself to the contour of the heel at the back and sides. Y

The toe covering portion 12 also is preferably made up of two laminations of material. An outer lamination of the toe portion is designated 22 and an inner lamination is designated 23. These inner and outer laminations 22 and 23 of the toe covering portion along the sides and one end are contoured to conform to the contour of the sole body around the edges 18 and 20 as will be readily apparent, and portions of the side and forward end edges of the laminations of the toe covering are turned outwardly as indicated at 24 in Fig. 5 for attachment by stitching 25 to the sole body.

As illustrated in both Figs. 5 and 6, theoutside or bottom lamination 16 of the wall body is of greater width J than the insole forming lamination 1-4 and in the attachment of the toe covering portion to the sole body by means of the outturned portions or flanges 24, thesev covering portion are joined to the inturned hem 26 is carried only to the rearmostpart of the toe covering portion at'the two sides ofthe Vslipper,-terminating approximately at the locations designated 25.

The toe covering portion has a forwardly curving arcuate rear edge which is generally designated 27. This arcuate rear edge is defined by the outwardly -and forwardly turned flange portions 28 and 29 of the outer and inner laminations 22 and 23, respectively, and at the center of the arcuate edge these laminations are cut out in a substantially V formation as indicated at 3G, but a central part of each is retained to form a .forwardly extending tongue 31. Thus the turned portions 28 and 29 forming the arcuate edge 27 are divided into the two parts 32 and the central tongue part 31 which lies between the adjacent ends of the parts 32.

The free outer edges of the two parts 32 are stitched down to the underlying portions of the laminations from which they are formed, as indicated at 33, thereby forming the two arcuate casings 34 for the purpose hereinafter described. This stitching 33 which extends into the top of the toe covering portion terminates at the outer end of each of the edges 30, and the two turned portions 28 and 29 are here stitched together but are not stitched to the top of the toe covering portion. Thus the casing 34 formed by each of the two parts 32 is open at both ends.

The two parts 28 and 29 of the toe coveringlaminations are also stitched together along the sides and across the free end of the tongue forming portion 31 and the free end of this tongue portion is stitched down as at 35 to the top of the toe covering portion, thus forming a loop or eye 36.

The extra or excess width of the bottom lamination 16 of the sole body is turned in on itself or onto the top of the insole lamination 14 from adjacent to the open rear ends of the casings 34 to the back transverse edge 37 of the sole body and these turned in rear end portions of the bottom lamination 16 are designated 3S and are stitched down as indicated at 39 to thus form side casings 4i) each of which is open at its two ends. The stitching 39 terminates short of the rear ends of the casings 34 so that a short length of the turned in portions 38 is free of stitching attachment either to the sole body or to the adjacent end of a casing 34, as indicated at 41. Thus the open forward end of each casing 4) is brought into position adjacent to the open rear end of a casing 34 to permit the extension of the draw string about to be described through the casings4 The numeral 42 generally designates a draw string or draw tape which is threaded through the casings 34 and 40, as shown, and it also passes through the upper part or the rearmost part of the loop 36 formed by the tongue 3l. This draw string is of substantial length so that in addition to passing through the casings along the sides of the sole body at the rear end thereof and through the casings outlining the forwardly curving or arched instep covering part of the toe covering portion, it provides the free ends '42 for extension around the ankle of the wearer for thepurpose of drawing the heel portion of the slipper into the desired shape or form to encase or cup the wearersheel.

lll

As is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, when the tying ends 42 of the draw string are brought together to be tied in front of the ankle, the draw string being pulled tight in such process to pull the rear end of the heel portion upwardly against the back of the heel, the side edge casings will, with the edge portion of the sole body, be drawn up or gatheredon the draw string as indicated at G in the two figures referred to, and these gathered edges of the heel portion will be pulled in snugly against the sides ofthe heel and curved forwardly slightly, thereby shaping the heel portion of the slipper into a cup-like form as indicated at C. In other words, in this operation of drawing the draw string tightly forwardly to turn up the back end of the heel portion, the said portion will be not only bent or folded transversely but it will be folded or bent longitudinally and the desired cup-like formation will be produced because the heel portion will be made to conform itself-'to the curvature of the heel.

This desiredformation of the heel portion of the slipper when the slipperis tied Vor secured'in place is also 'a function resulting from the flaring of the rear end of the heel portion.

The tying ends of the draw string may be secured together as illustrated in Fig. l directly against the front part of the ankle or, as shown in Fig. 2, they may be crossed over and passed through the loop 36'so that there will be not only a forward pull applied to the heel portion but a rearward pull will be applied to the toe covering portion when the ends are tied across the top of the loop 36.

While the invention has been illustrated anddescribed as comprising two laminations in the sole body and two laminations in the toe covering portion, it is to be understood that the slipper may be produced in accordance with the invention by using only a single piece or lamination of material for the sole, such as the lamination 16, and also by using a single piece or single lamination for the toe covering such as the lamination 23, for example.

Also while the tongue 31, formed of the two parts 28 and 29 to produce the loop, has been shown as comprising integral portions of the two laminations 22 and 23, it mayobviously be formed from a part of one of the laminations only or the two casings may be made as a single or continuous casing and the loop attached as a separate element.

In addition to the action of gathering the side edges of the slipper in the sole portion by means of the draw string, the draw string can be made to gather the toe covering across the instep and thus adjust it to fit that part of the foot.

The V formation indicated at 30 is designed to facilitate the insertion or threading of the draw string into the guide casings 34.

From the foregoing it will be seen that there is provided by the present invention a new and novel slipper which can be easily and quickly applied to thefoot and by means of the draw strings connected in themanner stated whereby side edge portions of the heel part or section can be gathered when the strings are tied, the slipper will automatically adjust itself to the length of the foot and form a heel receiving portion which will make the wearing of the slipper comfortable and also hold it against accidental displacement.

I claim:

`1. A slipper type article of footwear comprising a long at sole body of soft foldable material, an upper of soft material forming a toe covering overlying one end portion of the sole body and adapted toreceive the toes of a foot resting on the sole body, said toecovering being secured to said sole body, the sole'body from the rear of said toe covering to the remote other end of the sole body forming the heel end portion, the toe coveringhaving a forwardly curving arcuate rear edge portion intersecting and joined to the side edges of the heel portion, the`heel end portion being adapted to be turned up against the back of a heel, parts of the arcuate rear edge of said toe covering forming guide means, the side edges of said heel end portion forming guide means along each lateral edge of the heel end portion, each of said guide means being open at opposite ends thereof and the guide means on said heel end portions being aligned with adjacent end portions of the guide means on the toe covering, said heel end portion aring outwardly toward the rear end thereof and terminating in a back transverse edge, said guide means along the lateral edges of said heel portion terminating at opposite ends of said back transverse edge and being spaced a substantial distance from one another, and a drawstring extending through one of the guide means along one edge of the heel portion then through the plurality of guide means formed on said toe portion and nally through the guide means formed along the opposite edge of the heel portion, the opposite ends of said drawstring extending a substantial distance beyond the open ends of the guide means on the heel portion at the back transverse edge of the heel portion whereby the drawstring may be brought forwardly around the ankle of the wearer with the back transverse edge of the heel portion being adapted to fit against the back of a wearers heel, the remainder of the heel portion being adapted to conform to the shape of the wearers heel.

2. A device as dened in claim 1, including a tongue comprising an elongated member extending from the arcuate rear edge of said toe covering intermediate the guide means on said rear edge of' the toe covering, the tongue being disposed in a forwardly extending position over the top of the toe covering portion and being secured at its forward end portion to the material of the toe covering portion whereby the drawstring may be disposed under said tongue in order to apply a forward pull to the heel portion and a rearward pull to the toe Ycovering portion.

References Cited in the ile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,754,054 Selva Apr. 8, 1930 2,110,890 Paul Mar. 15, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS 77,652 Austria` Q Aug. 11, 1919 175,408 Great Britain Feb. 16, 1922 393,905 Great Britain June 15, 1933 844,519 France Apr. 24, 19,39

1,032,050 France Mar. 25, 1953 

